


Grocery Run

by Kikithehousemoose



Series: With Those We Love Alive [1]
Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Aftermath, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Barry Bluejeans - Freeform, Julia Burnsides - Freeform, Lup - Freeform, Panic Attacks, all mentioned and in it but no dialogue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-02
Updated: 2017-07-02
Packaged: 2018-11-22 13:51:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11381511
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kikithehousemoose/pseuds/Kikithehousemoose
Summary: Magnus goes grocery shopping and makes all of one mistake.





	Grocery Run

**Author's Note:**

> Based off of this post: http://master-of-pocket-worlds.tumblr.com/post/162493007984/consider-one-day-magnus-has-to-go-out-on-some 
> 
> Messed with the whole "they don't know why" thing but I thought it'd be better plot wise if they did.
> 
> I was super distracted while writing this so sorry if it doesn't resolve well/could've been more fleshed out.

On one drizzly Tuesday afternoon, Magnus walked out of a condo he didn’t live in to buy groceries for someone who wouldn’t thank him. 

 

It wasn’t the most unbelievable thing he had done. Magnus Burnsides was a famously charitable man and had probably at one point bought groceries for every single friend he had. They all went over to each others houses so much anyway, he figured that he might as well be the one to make sure everyone had a fair stock.

The only problem today besides the threat of rain was the exact person he was doing this for. Taako did not take kindly to other people shopping for him–no matter who it was, they always got something wrong. He’d subjected Magnus to his wrath a number of times already for not realizing shallots were a type of onion and not a small puck-sized fish meat (along with numerous other culinary sins); despite this, Magnus persisted in being the one to go shopping while Taako was otherwise occupied, so the chef had gotten the mind to start leaving out a very detail-oriented grocery list that the softie could easily stumble across. The most recent versions even had pictures of the food items in question, so there was next to no way Magnus could get it wrong.

This week’s list seemed to be made up of ingredients for somewhat experimental meals, which Magnus was always fine with. It was a relief to everyone for Taako to be experimenting again and Magnus had never been one to turn down free food. 

 

Unfortunately, the oddity of the ingredients made finding a place that sold them quite the chore, turning what might have been an hour and a half run into an elaborate four hour quest. He not only got the full list of ingredients, but also ended up discovering a whole new town on the other side of the county that had a barn dinner theater he knew Julia would love. On the way back, he stopped to assist with a rescue team who were trying to catch a litter of kittens who had been discovered near by a snake nest; some of them were hurt, but none had died, and it was all he could do to remember that people were waiting for him back home before he offered to help take them to the animal hospital. The team thanked him for his time and he was on his way, the sun shining in his eyes as it started to dip in the sky. He sighed as he drove home, knowing Taako would be pissed despite him gathering all of the proper ingredients. Still, it wouldn’t be the last time he did him this favor.

All of the downstairs lights were on by the time he got back, signaling that the man in question had awoken from his late-afternoon slumber. Magnus parked the car in the driveway, feeling a weird sense of dread wash over him as he took out armfuls of bags. Something felt wrong, but he couldn’t place what. Knowing better than to completely shrug it off, he carefully carried the bags to the door, unlocking it masterfully and swinging it open as he stepped inside.

The worst part about it was that everything else looked fine. There were no cups knocked over, no chairs or magazines out of place. There was no sign of any kind of struggle or hysteria– not except on the man in front of him.

Taako sat crouched on the ground, every muscle in his body clenched. Despite being asleep when Magnus left, he looked exhausted, eyes glazed and expression one of hollow horror. He looked pallid, hardly breathing as he stared down at a long-crushed piece of paper in his hand, barely visible from under his strained knuckles.

Setting the bags down in one fell swoop, Magnus furrowed his eyebrows, stepping forward cautiously as his heart dropped into his chest. “Taako…?”

Taako’s head snapped up, and as their eyes met Magnus suddenly remembered what he had done wrong. An innocent note, a habit he’d picked up from living with Julia.

 

_ Back Soon. _

 

Before he could open his mouth again to apologize, Taako practically melted, unclenching and nearly falling the few more inches to the floor. The paper fell out of his hands as he put a hand over his eye, silent for a few tense seconds before letting out a breathy stream of laughter. 

“I called you.” The laughter stopped as abruptly as it started as Taako shot him a look, eyes still glazed, hand shaking slightly. “Since when has your phone been on silent, hombre? I’ve heard that stupid barking ringtone for the past three years and this is the one fuckin day you don’t have that shit at full blast?”

“I– No, Taako, I didn’t–” Magnus stepped forward again and Taako moved back, pressing his lips together and giving a warning hum. Magnus stopped, frowning and holding his hands up in front of him. 

“Okay. I’m sorry. I made you panic when I didn’t mean to. I’m here now. I’m not gone. I went out for groceries. I took the list you gave me and it took longer than expected. I got distracted. Totally my fault.” 

“Yeah, no shit it’s your fault.”

He sighed, lowering his hands. 

“I–,,just–… what can I do for you?”

“Turn your fucking phone on, for starters.”

True to his word,Magnus took his phone out of his pocket (30 missed calls, 45 missed texts, most from Taako but 5 from Lup) and turned the ringer on. 

 

“Done. No more missed calls, I promise. Is there anything else?”

Taako was quiet for another minute, head in his hands and ever-clearing eyes on the ground. Pulling his face together, he abruptly stood, swaying a bit from having been on the ground for so long but moving ahead before he could lose his balance.

“Yeah. This never happened. Burn that piece of shit paper or whatever you gotta do. Actually? Never write me a letter again. If I see one, I swear to god Mags, suddenly I won’t be able to read.”

Magnus gave a small smile, hands back down by his side. “Right, got it. Just texts. You, uh, want me to unload the groceries?”

“Boy do I. You should’ve done that five minutes ago; Boy Genius is coming over tomorrow and I have something in mind that’s at least 24 hours prep.” 

“On it.” As he turned to close the door he hadn’t realized was still open, Taako had already moved into the kitchen, determined to actually act like the past however long he’d been awake had never transpired. For anyone else, Magnus would’ve seen harm in that kind of attitude, but stoicism was Taako’s signature attitude. However harmful it may or may not be, there just wasn’t any breaking him of it. It’s not like Magnus considered himself the epitome of coping mechanisms either, so he could only say so much.

During his second trip into the kitchen, he paused. “Hey, I know nothing happened, but.. I should call Lup back, right?”

Taako flushed very subtly, as if he’d actually forgotten he’d called her. He shrugged. “Yeah, probably. Unless you want her to storm over here and end up joining us for dinner.”

“Wouldn’t be the worst case scenario.”

“Would be for you.”

“Touche.I’ll be back to help in a second.”

“Literally don’t.”

 

Predictably, Lup chewed him out for all of five minutes before forgiving him and asking about her brother. He was doing well, but she came over for dinner anyway. Julia joined them when it became clear Magnus wasn’t going to be home and Barry inevitably joined them when he finally stopped working. 

Turns out, Taako cooked enough for five people anyway. 


End file.
